A Solution for a Vexing Question: Is This Cab Available?

The taxicab roof light, the occasionally head-scratching system that can befuddle out-of-towners and facilitate fare refusals, may be ready for a makeover.

The Taxi and Limousine Commission is considering a plan that would eliminate taxis’ smaller “off-duty” lights in favor of a single, central beacon: it would be illuminated if the cab is available, and dark if it is not.

The current two-tiered roof light, which indicates when a cab is free, filled, or off duty, is one of the last parts of the taxi experience untouched by the Bloomberg administration, which has mandated a television in the backseat, a GPS device in the front and, coming soon, laptop chargers and reading lights.

The city’s light proposal, modeled after the cabs in London, would simplify a setup that officials said could lead to “misunderstandings between drivers and passengers.”

“To the uninitiated, we wonder whether the system isn’t a little confusing,” said David S. Yassky, the chairman of the taxi commission.

But to decipher the vagaries of the taxi roof light is to prove one’s identity as a street-tested New Yorker, and any change to the design, which has been in place for decades, would eliminate what is considered one of the litmus tests of city citizenship.

Now, cabdrivers can illuminate the central light and the off-duty signs, indicating that they are finishing a shift but are still available for riders who happen to be going the same way. This can lead to some heated negotiations, particularly during the dreaded 5 p.m. shift change, and a moment of cognitive dissonance for the unaccustomed.

“It looks like they’re available when they’re not,” complained Dottie Fawcett, 56, a first-time visitor from Delaware who was trying to hail every cab in sight, even the darkened ones, at the corner of 42nd Street and Avenue of the Americas on Tuesday. “You can’t always tell.”

Photo

The taxicabs' "off duty" light is frequently a source of confusion. There is a proposal to eliminate it.Credit
Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

A single-light system, she said, would be a great idea. “That would make life easier,” she said as yet another yellow cab sped past.

A cabby can be fined for refusing to take a fare, but this rejection is allowed whenever the off-duty light is illuminated. This can lead to some abuse: it is not unusual for cabbies to flip on their off-duty signs in, say, a rainstorm, allowing them to choose which passengers to take.

“The potential for illegality is definitely there,” said Graham Hodges, a taxi historian, who has written about some of the roof light’s darker moments. In the 1970s, Mr. Hodges said, drivers would sometimes disable the light so they could cruise and haggle over prices. Later, the city discovered that cabbies were using the off-duty lights to avoid unwanted passengers, particularly minorities.

Mr. Yassky said those problems were among the reasons the city was considering a change. “I do think there’s a certain amount of abuse of the off-duty light,” he said.

London cabs operate smoothly even without the off-duty indicator light, the taxi commission said. Some Paris taxis recently added lights that glow green when a taxi is available and turn red when filled.

In 2005, the city’s Design Trust for Public Space solicited ideas for what a modern roof light might look like. One submission included LED signs that gave a cab’s status in colloquialisms like “I’m Free!” and “Nope.”

The taxi commission does not know when a decision will be made, but has posted an online survey to collect feedback from passengers and cabbies about the single-light concept. Initial responses seemed mixed.

“How about a red flag up when it’s a no-go, and then a green flag up when you’re good to go?” Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the New York Taxi Workers’ Alliance, a drivers’ group, said on Tuesday. She said she was watching a woman try to get a ride in a row of cabs, all with off-duty lights glowing. “That is an issue, particularly this time of day,” she said.

Sometimes, however, even knowing the system is no aid to landing a ride. David Buda, an executive at a corporate travel agency, has lived in New York for 37 years and said he knew the taxi light system like he knew the street grid. But he was having no luck finding a cab on Tuesday afternoon.

“I’m looking for a light; I’m hoping to see the center light,” he said, standing at the southwest corner of Bryant Park. He whistled, waved his hand and walked to the opposite side of the street: nothing. Finally, he gave up and began to walk.

Patrick Wall contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on October 12, 2011, on page A17 of the New York edition with the headline: A Solution for the Riddle of Whether a Cab Is Available. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe